Anxiety<\/a> We are all human. We all get frustrated. Recognizing these frustrations and using strategies creates an opportunity for you to model positive coping skills for your child. Believe it or not, they are looking at us and watching our reactions all the time! Take a moment to reflect: \u25cf How do you cope with your child\u2019s frustrated feelings and reactions? \u25cf Do you tend to catastrophize or\/and over empathize with your child\u2019s problem? \u25cf Are you able to control your own reactions? Remember, children are incredibly perceptive. If you have difficulty holding their frustrated feelings, they will too! Help your child manage their frustrations by talking about what it looks like and feels like for them. Share what you notice when they are frustrated . . . does their reaction come in the form of a shut-down, outburst, avoidance? Help them put a name to their feelings and then explore the strategies that can help them feel more calm and grounded in the moment.<\/p>\nCoping Strategies<\/h2>\n
So what are some coping strategies to model? Here are a few simple, developmentally appropriate tools that you can use to support your child (and yourself) to handle day-to-day challenges. \u25cf Take a deep breath (soup breath & belly breath are popular with my kiddos) \u25cf Walk away \u25cf Run a lap \u25cf Name it to Tame it! – Dr. Daniel Siegel \u25cf Drink water or eat a snack \u25cf Approach situations with a growth mindset (Changing \u201cI can\u2019t do this!\u201d to \u201cI can\u2019t do this, yet\u201d) \u25cf Support your child to consider the worst-case scenario AND how likely (or unlikely) that is to happen.<\/p>\n
Practice, Practice, Practice<\/h2>\n
To help your child use these strategies when they need them most, they will need to practice them (during non-stressful times). You wouldn\u2019t run a race without training first. Similarly, to help your child access calming strategies when they need them most, they will need to strengthen their emotional muscle memory! Remember, frustration is not the enemy or something to eradicate. It is part of what makes us human. When frustration rears its head for your child (or you ;)) just remember to notice, name and soothe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Frustration. A feeling we often view as something to flee from! While frustration can be an uncomfortable feeling, it is also an important one. It can motivate us . . . to work harder, practice longer, and go after our goals. The downside? It doesn?t feel good. Extreme cases of frustration can even make us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3201,"featured_media":42669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1921,628,1841],"tags":[1995,2194,51],"class_list":["post-42633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-child-concerns","category-general","category-parenting","tag-coping-strategies","tag-frustration","tag-healthy-parenting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Frustration. A feeling we often view as something to flee from! While frustration can be an uncomfortable feeling, it is also an important one. It can motivate us . . . to work harder, practice longer, and go after our goals. The downside? It doesn\u2019t feel good. Extreme cases of frustration can even make us feel the need to \u201cgive-up\u201d or \u201cshut down\u201d. What picture comes to mind when you think of frustration? A cartoon with smoke coming out of its ears? A sad emoji face? Did you know that there are actually MANY faces of frustration?! Take a moment and think about what you may look like when you\u2019re feeling frustrated. How about your spouse or child . . . do you all have the same \u201clook\u201d, or is it different?<\/p>\n